Q: On the Amazon Kindle discussion group, Gary Anderson says: "Be aware that Amazon is going to start charging for using the Web browser on the Kindle."
A: It's an interesting and valid question, Gary -- sufficiently interesting that as I write this #818 on the Kindle Books bestseller list is an article entitled "The Amazon Kindle Basic Web Wireless Service: Why It Is a Revolutionary Feature, and Why Amazon Should Keep It Free or Cheap (Kindle Edition)," which is actually a chapter excerpted from my forthcoming book on the Kindle. The real question, I think, is whether it will make sense economically in the classic Amazon "customer experience"-driven business model for Amazon to start charging for the wireless web. In the article I argue that it would make little sense and would involve a serious departure for Amazon to start charging anything more than a nominal charge of, say, $2.99 a month for the wireless connectivity.
Two other points worth mentioning, I think:
1) If it is important to people, I hope they will make a point of communicating to Amazon their hope, or insistence, or whatever they want to communicate, that the service be kept free. If your post or my article help people to frame the dialogue, that's fine.
2) I recommend that people look at the fairly broad and unqualified statement implicit in the 5th paragraph of the letter from Jeff Bezos which is linked in the left sidebar column of the Kindle Store page: "We chose the same wireless technology used in advanced cell phones, so you never need to locate a Wi-Fi hotspot. But unlike cell phones, there are no monthly wireless bills, no service or data plans, and no yearly contracts."
That is Jeff speaking about his vision for the Kindle, and although it would be possible to split hairs and say, well, he wasn't specific about using the wireless for browsing the web, etc., etc., I think that would be missing his point. And call me Pollyanna, but I prefer to believe JeffSpeak than AmazonLawyerSpeak, which I believe is what animates (or fails to animate) the Terms & Conditions.
Speak up, Kindlers! You have nothing to lose but your connectivity!
Windwalker
indieKindle.blogspot.com
Saturday, January 12, 2008
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